150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 2 - 8 FEBRUARY 1876
This week's many stories include the annual Rainford ploughing match, the fire at the Friends Meeting House, the overlaid baby in Waterloo Street, the Valentine cards on sale in St Helens, the unlicensed hawker who asked a policeman if he wanted to buy some earrings and the black singers from Nashville singing slave hymns in the Volunteer Hall.
We begin on February 2nd when the annual Rainford ploughing match took place on land belonging to Major Pilkington, adjacent to Rainford Hall in Crank and close to Crank Railway Station. Such competitions were regularly held over the rural parts of St Helens during the 19th century – especially in Bold and Sutton – and still take place today in other parts of the country.
Not only did they encourage good practice (being a measure of quality rather than speed) but ploughmen could also win a £5 prize, which was more than three weeks wages. Holding such a contest in early February was always risky and often the competition had to be postponed until the soil was no longer hard and frosted over.
However, the St Helens Newspaper wrote that the contest in Crank had enjoyed fine weather and it had been "in every way a perfect success" with a very large attendance of spectators who watched the 25 competitors skilfully cultivate the land with their horse-drawn ploughs. A dinner was always held after the event and this year's took place at the Crank Hotel with over 100 persons sitting down to what the Newspaper called a "most substantial repast".
Four different minor street crimes as perceived by the standards of the 1870s were dealt with in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th. This is how the St Helens Newspaper briefly reported the offences:
"James Gregson, Eccleston, for firing a gun in the road; Alfred Price, Sutton, for playing at “guinea cat” in the street; Peter Horridge, Windle, for sleeping in his cart; and John Bromilow, Eccleston, for leaving his cart standing in the street, were severally fined 1s. and costs."
I would have thought that firing a gun in the street was a lot more serious than the other three offences, although playing guinea cat did have its dangers. A piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, was used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat". Not only was it dangerous to the boy acting as the target but also to others who might get in the way.
A meeting of the Prescot Guardians – the folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community – was held on the 4th. The Guardians were told that there were currently 409 persons inside the house, of which 149 were children. The workhouse master complained that fever was "spread broadcast" by the conditions inside the horse-drawn ambulance that had been purchased a year earlier to convey infected persons from St Helens and elsewhere to their fever hospital.
The term "fever" included all sorts of contagious diseases including measles, scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid. He said a patient had just arrived at the workhouse in a soaked ambulance (presumably through rain) without a blanket or any other covering. The master added that it was common for other people to be inside the ambulance that had no reason to be present and their presence allowed disease to spread. He added that patients were often so exhausted upon their arrival that they had to be given brandy to revive them.
An advert in the Newspaper on the 5th said: "The Jubilee Singers from Nashville, U.S.A. will give a service of song! Consisting of their quaint slave hymns and melodies, in the Volunteer Hall, St. Helens." The black Jubilee Singers were on tour throughout the country and all the proceeds of their concerts were devoted to what was described as the "Education of Freed Slaves in Fisk University, U.S.A."
The ensemble was also set to appear in Liverpool and the Liverpool Mail on the 5th wrote: "‘Negro minstrelsy’" has long been a favourite institution in this country, and its latest form appears to be the most popular. There is a quaintness and pathos about the singing of the now well-known “emancipated slaves,” who are to give performances on Monday and Tuesday evenings, that never fail to touch the hearts of their hearers, especially when religious sympathies are already enlisted on their behalf."
Valentine cards were incredibly popular in St Helens. In 1872 the town's post office reported that on Wednesday February 14th they had delivered a total of 7,709 items – compared to the average Wednesday delivery of 3,075. But not all cards were despatched with romantic overtures in mind, as the St Helens Newspaper described: "Severe moralists have condemned the custom of sending valentines, because it leads to the transmission of malevolent rubbish for the gratification of jealousy or hatred."
In 1875 the Newspaper had lamented how more Valentines that celebrated the pagan festival were being received in the town than cards that commemorated Christmas. They also stated that the total number of Valentines that had passed through the St Helens Post Office that year over three days had been 15,360, with what they considered to be a surprisingly high number sent into the town from other places: "A fact which speaks volumes for the bewitching beauties who may henceforth claim to be the greatest attraction the town can boast of."
In this week's paper Dromgoole's in Hardshaw Street in St Helens was advertising their new range of "Leap Year Love Gifts", claiming their shop attached to the Newspaper's offices had the "best, neatest, prettiest, cheapest" Valentine cards.
They claimed they had: • Valentines for anybody • Valentines for everybody • Valentines – Sentimental • Valentines – Comic • Valentines – All Prices • Valentines – All sizes • Valentines – All shapes.
One of the most common ways for young infants to die was to be "overlaid" in bed – in other words inadvertently suffocated by an adult. In an era when some working class folk packed their beds like sardines with multiple occupants, the addition of a little baby in between the sheets would not be considered a problem. But the infant's tiny size also meant they were vulnerable to being crushed by a sleeping adult and had no means of resisting.
The Newspaper described how Agnes Leyland had died this week through being overlaid. The 2-month-old twin daughter of butcher Thomas Leyland of Waterloo Street had been taken to the bed at midnight. During the night her mother "gave her the breast" – as the Newspaper put it – and then exchanged Agnes for her twin, giving the newly fed baby to a servant girl who slept in the same bed.
The servant rose at 7am thinking the baby was asleep in bed and two hours later the mother woke to find Agnes dead and quite cold. The left side of her face was discoloured and her tongue was protruding from her mouth, typical symptoms of being overlaid in bed. Or, possibly, it had been the bedclothes that had suffocated the poor child.
What today is often referred to as the Friends Meeting House or Quaker Meeting House in Church Street in St Helens was during the 1870s primarily being used by Welsh worshippers. That section of Church Street was then known as Raven Street and on the 7th a fire broke out in the building.
Fortunately a man working in the neighbourhood spotted the flames coming through the roof and quickly sounded the alarm and the fire bell at the Town Hall was soon rung. The close proximity to the Meeting House meant the brigade was quickly on the scene with their hose and reel and were able to put out the flames in a few minutes before much damage could be done. The fire was supposed to have originated through the stovepipe that came through the roof getting overheated.
Hawking items on the streets of St Helens without a licence was seemingly five times more serious than firing a gun in the street. At least Edmond Pickup was told to pay five shillings compared to a one bob fine for selling earrings in Church Street without a permit. Detective Robinson told the Petty Sessions on the 7th that he had seen Pickup on Wednesday evening last offering his earrings to some females and then the man had approached the plain clothes officer and offered him his goods.
Clearly the bobby did not fancy wearing any earrings as he instead asked him for his licence and whether he had any more earrings on him. Pickup admitted not being licensed but said he had no more jewellery in his possession. But DC Robinson was not satisfied and he took Pickup into a shop where he found 26 pairs of similar earrings on him. The man was fined 5s and costs.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the Smithy Brow father forced to pay maintenance for his illegitimate child, the dangerous Jack Tar in the Globe and the Marshall Cross man rewarded for helping a bobby.
We begin on February 2nd when the annual Rainford ploughing match took place on land belonging to Major Pilkington, adjacent to Rainford Hall in Crank and close to Crank Railway Station. Such competitions were regularly held over the rural parts of St Helens during the 19th century – especially in Bold and Sutton – and still take place today in other parts of the country.
Not only did they encourage good practice (being a measure of quality rather than speed) but ploughmen could also win a £5 prize, which was more than three weeks wages. Holding such a contest in early February was always risky and often the competition had to be postponed until the soil was no longer hard and frosted over.
However, the St Helens Newspaper wrote that the contest in Crank had enjoyed fine weather and it had been "in every way a perfect success" with a very large attendance of spectators who watched the 25 competitors skilfully cultivate the land with their horse-drawn ploughs. A dinner was always held after the event and this year's took place at the Crank Hotel with over 100 persons sitting down to what the Newspaper called a "most substantial repast".
Four different minor street crimes as perceived by the standards of the 1870s were dealt with in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th. This is how the St Helens Newspaper briefly reported the offences:
"James Gregson, Eccleston, for firing a gun in the road; Alfred Price, Sutton, for playing at “guinea cat” in the street; Peter Horridge, Windle, for sleeping in his cart; and John Bromilow, Eccleston, for leaving his cart standing in the street, were severally fined 1s. and costs."
I would have thought that firing a gun in the street was a lot more serious than the other three offences, although playing guinea cat did have its dangers. A piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, was used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat". Not only was it dangerous to the boy acting as the target but also to others who might get in the way.
A meeting of the Prescot Guardians – the folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community – was held on the 4th. The Guardians were told that there were currently 409 persons inside the house, of which 149 were children. The workhouse master complained that fever was "spread broadcast" by the conditions inside the horse-drawn ambulance that had been purchased a year earlier to convey infected persons from St Helens and elsewhere to their fever hospital.
The term "fever" included all sorts of contagious diseases including measles, scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid. He said a patient had just arrived at the workhouse in a soaked ambulance (presumably through rain) without a blanket or any other covering. The master added that it was common for other people to be inside the ambulance that had no reason to be present and their presence allowed disease to spread. He added that patients were often so exhausted upon their arrival that they had to be given brandy to revive them.
An advert in the Newspaper on the 5th said: "The Jubilee Singers from Nashville, U.S.A. will give a service of song! Consisting of their quaint slave hymns and melodies, in the Volunteer Hall, St. Helens." The black Jubilee Singers were on tour throughout the country and all the proceeds of their concerts were devoted to what was described as the "Education of Freed Slaves in Fisk University, U.S.A."
The ensemble was also set to appear in Liverpool and the Liverpool Mail on the 5th wrote: "‘Negro minstrelsy’" has long been a favourite institution in this country, and its latest form appears to be the most popular. There is a quaintness and pathos about the singing of the now well-known “emancipated slaves,” who are to give performances on Monday and Tuesday evenings, that never fail to touch the hearts of their hearers, especially when religious sympathies are already enlisted on their behalf."
Valentine cards were incredibly popular in St Helens. In 1872 the town's post office reported that on Wednesday February 14th they had delivered a total of 7,709 items – compared to the average Wednesday delivery of 3,075. But not all cards were despatched with romantic overtures in mind, as the St Helens Newspaper described: "Severe moralists have condemned the custom of sending valentines, because it leads to the transmission of malevolent rubbish for the gratification of jealousy or hatred."
In 1875 the Newspaper had lamented how more Valentines that celebrated the pagan festival were being received in the town than cards that commemorated Christmas. They also stated that the total number of Valentines that had passed through the St Helens Post Office that year over three days had been 15,360, with what they considered to be a surprisingly high number sent into the town from other places: "A fact which speaks volumes for the bewitching beauties who may henceforth claim to be the greatest attraction the town can boast of."
They claimed they had: • Valentines for anybody • Valentines for everybody • Valentines – Sentimental • Valentines – Comic • Valentines – All Prices • Valentines – All sizes • Valentines – All shapes.
One of the most common ways for young infants to die was to be "overlaid" in bed – in other words inadvertently suffocated by an adult. In an era when some working class folk packed their beds like sardines with multiple occupants, the addition of a little baby in between the sheets would not be considered a problem. But the infant's tiny size also meant they were vulnerable to being crushed by a sleeping adult and had no means of resisting.
The Newspaper described how Agnes Leyland had died this week through being overlaid. The 2-month-old twin daughter of butcher Thomas Leyland of Waterloo Street had been taken to the bed at midnight. During the night her mother "gave her the breast" – as the Newspaper put it – and then exchanged Agnes for her twin, giving the newly fed baby to a servant girl who slept in the same bed.
The servant rose at 7am thinking the baby was asleep in bed and two hours later the mother woke to find Agnes dead and quite cold. The left side of her face was discoloured and her tongue was protruding from her mouth, typical symptoms of being overlaid in bed. Or, possibly, it had been the bedclothes that had suffocated the poor child.
What today is often referred to as the Friends Meeting House or Quaker Meeting House in Church Street in St Helens was during the 1870s primarily being used by Welsh worshippers. That section of Church Street was then known as Raven Street and on the 7th a fire broke out in the building.
Fortunately a man working in the neighbourhood spotted the flames coming through the roof and quickly sounded the alarm and the fire bell at the Town Hall was soon rung. The close proximity to the Meeting House meant the brigade was quickly on the scene with their hose and reel and were able to put out the flames in a few minutes before much damage could be done. The fire was supposed to have originated through the stovepipe that came through the roof getting overheated.
Hawking items on the streets of St Helens without a licence was seemingly five times more serious than firing a gun in the street. At least Edmond Pickup was told to pay five shillings compared to a one bob fine for selling earrings in Church Street without a permit. Detective Robinson told the Petty Sessions on the 7th that he had seen Pickup on Wednesday evening last offering his earrings to some females and then the man had approached the plain clothes officer and offered him his goods.
Clearly the bobby did not fancy wearing any earrings as he instead asked him for his licence and whether he had any more earrings on him. Pickup admitted not being licensed but said he had no more jewellery in his possession. But DC Robinson was not satisfied and he took Pickup into a shop where he found 26 pairs of similar earrings on him. The man was fined 5s and costs.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the Smithy Brow father forced to pay maintenance for his illegitimate child, the dangerous Jack Tar in the Globe and the Marshall Cross man rewarded for helping a bobby.
This week's many stories include the annual Rainford ploughing match, the fire at the Friends Meeting House, the overlaid baby in Waterloo Street, the Valentine cards on sale in St Helens, the unlicensed hawker who asked a policeman if he wanted to buy some earrings and the black singers from Nashville singing slave hymns in the Volunteer Hall.
We begin on February 2nd when the annual Rainford ploughing match took place on land belonging to Major Pilkington, adjacent to Rainford Hall in Crank and close to Crank Railway Station.
Such competitions were regularly held over the rural parts of St Helens during the 19th century – especially in Bold and Sutton – and still take place today in other parts of the country.
Not only did they encourage good practice (being a measure of quality rather than speed) but ploughmen could also win a £5 prize, which was more than three weeks wages.
Holding such a contest in early February was always risky and often the competition had to be postponed until the soil was no longer hard and frosted over.
However, the St Helens Newspaper wrote that the contest in Crank had enjoyed fine weather and it had been "in every way a perfect success" with a very large attendance of spectators who watched the 25 competitors skilfully cultivate the land with their horse-drawn ploughs.
A dinner was always held after the event and this year's took place at the Crank Hotel with over 100 persons sitting down to what the Newspaper called a "most substantial repast".
Four different minor street crimes as perceived by the standards of the 1870s were dealt with in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th.
This is how the St Helens Newspaper briefly reported the offences:
"James Gregson, Eccleston, for firing a gun in the road; Alfred Price, Sutton, for playing at “guinea cat” in the street; Peter Horridge, Windle, for sleeping in his cart; and John Bromilow, Eccleston, for leaving his cart standing in the street, were severally fined 1s. and costs."
I would have thought that firing a gun in the street was a lot more serious than the other three offences, although playing guinea cat did have its dangers.
A piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, was used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat".
Not only was it dangerous to the boy acting as the target but also to others who might get in the way.
A meeting of the Prescot Guardians – the folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community – was held on the 4th.
The Guardians were told that there were currently 409 persons inside the house, of which 149 were children.
The workhouse master complained that fever was "spread broadcast" by the conditions inside the horse-drawn ambulance that had been purchased a year earlier to convey infected persons from St Helens and elsewhere to their fever hospital.
The term "fever" included all sorts of contagious diseases including measles, scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid.
He said a patient had just arrived at the workhouse in a soaked ambulance (presumably through rain) without a blanket or any other covering.
The master added that it was common for other people to be inside the ambulance that had no reason to be present and their presence allowed disease to spread.
He added that patients were often so exhausted upon their arrival that they had to be given brandy to revive them.
An advert in the Newspaper on the 5th said: "The Jubilee Singers from Nashville, U.S.A. will give a service of song! Consisting of their quaint slave hymns and melodies, in the Volunteer Hall, St. Helens."
The black Jubilee Singers were on tour throughout the country and all the proceeds of their concerts were devoted to what was described as the "Education of Freed Slaves in Fisk University, U.S.A."
The ensemble was also set to appear in Liverpool and the Liverpool Mail on the 5th wrote:
"‘Negro minstrelsy’" has long been a favourite institution in this country, and its latest form appears to be the most popular.
"There is a quaintness and pathos about the singing of the now well-known “emancipated slaves,” who are to give performances on Monday and Tuesday evenings, that never fail to touch the hearts of their hearers, especially when religious sympathies are already enlisted on their behalf."
Valentine cards were incredibly popular in St Helens. In 1872 the town's post office reported that on Wednesday February 14th they had delivered a total of 7,709 items – compared to the average Wednesday delivery of 3,075.
But not all cards were despatched with romantic overtures in mind, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"Severe moralists have condemned the custom of sending valentines, because it leads to the transmission of malevolent rubbish for the gratification of jealousy or hatred."
In 1875 the Newspaper had lamented how more Valentines that celebrated the pagan festival were being received in the town than cards that commemorated Christmas.
They also stated that the total number of Valentines that had passed through the St Helens Post Office that year over three days had been 15,360, with what they considered to be a surprisingly high number sent into the town from other places:
"A fact which speaks volumes for the bewitching beauties who may henceforth claim to be the greatest attraction the town can boast of."
In this week's paper Dromgoole's in Hardshaw Street in St Helens was advertising their new range of "Leap Year Love Gifts", claiming their shop attached to the Newspaper's offices had the "best, neatest, prettiest, cheapest" Valentine cards.
They claimed they had:
• Valentines for anybody
• Valentines for everybody
• Valentines – Sentimental
• Valentines – Comic
• Valentines – All Prices
• Valentines – All sizes
• Valentines – All shapes
One of the most common ways for young infants to die was to be "overlaid" in bed – in other words inadvertently suffocated by an adult.
In an era when some working class folk packed their beds like sardines with multiple occupants, the addition of a little baby in between the sheets would not be considered a problem.
But the infant's tiny size also meant they were vulnerable to being crushed by a sleeping adult and had no means of resisting.
The Newspaper described how Agnes Leyland had died this week through being overlaid.
The 2-month-old twin daughter of butcher Thomas Leyland of Waterloo Street had been taken to the bed at midnight.
During the night her mother "gave her the breast" – as the Newspaper put it – and then exchanged Agnes for her twin, giving the newly fed baby to a servant girl who slept in the same bed.
The servant rose at 7am thinking the baby was asleep in bed and two hours later the mother woke to find Agnes dead and quite cold.
The left side of her face was discoloured and her tongue was protruding from her mouth, typical symptoms of being overlaid in bed. Or, possibly, it had been the bedclothes that had suffocated the poor child.
What today is often referred to as the Friends Meeting House or Quaker Meeting House in Church Street in St Helens was during the 1870s primarily being used by Welsh worshippers.
That section of Church Street was then known as Raven Street and on the 7th a fire broke out in the building.
Fortunately a man working in the neighbourhood spotted the flames coming through the roof and quickly sounded the alarm and the fire bell at the Town Hall was soon rung.
The close proximity to the Meeting House meant the brigade was quickly on the scene with their hose and reel and were able to put out the flames in a few minutes before much damage could be done.
The fire was supposed to have originated through the stovepipe that came through the roof getting overheated.
Hawking items on the streets of St Helens without a licence was seemingly five times more serious than firing a gun in the street.
At least Edmond Pickup was told to pay five shillings compared to a one bob fine for selling earrings in Church Street without a permit.
Detective Robinson told the Petty Sessions on the 7th that he had seen Pickup on Wednesday evening last offering his earrings to some females and then the man had approached the plain clothes officer and offered him his goods.
Clearly the bobby did not fancy wearing any earrings as he instead asked him for his licence and whether he had any more earrings on him.
Pickup admitted not being licensed but said he had no more jewellery in his possession.
But DC Robinson was not satisfied and he took Pickup into a shop where he found 26 pairs of similar earrings on him. The man was fined 5s and costs.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the Smithy Brow father forced to pay maintenance for his illegitimate child, the dangerous Jack Tar in the Globe and the Marshall Cross man rewarded for helping a bobby.
We begin on February 2nd when the annual Rainford ploughing match took place on land belonging to Major Pilkington, adjacent to Rainford Hall in Crank and close to Crank Railway Station.
Such competitions were regularly held over the rural parts of St Helens during the 19th century – especially in Bold and Sutton – and still take place today in other parts of the country.
Not only did they encourage good practice (being a measure of quality rather than speed) but ploughmen could also win a £5 prize, which was more than three weeks wages.
Holding such a contest in early February was always risky and often the competition had to be postponed until the soil was no longer hard and frosted over.
However, the St Helens Newspaper wrote that the contest in Crank had enjoyed fine weather and it had been "in every way a perfect success" with a very large attendance of spectators who watched the 25 competitors skilfully cultivate the land with their horse-drawn ploughs.
A dinner was always held after the event and this year's took place at the Crank Hotel with over 100 persons sitting down to what the Newspaper called a "most substantial repast".
Four different minor street crimes as perceived by the standards of the 1870s were dealt with in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th.
This is how the St Helens Newspaper briefly reported the offences:
"James Gregson, Eccleston, for firing a gun in the road; Alfred Price, Sutton, for playing at “guinea cat” in the street; Peter Horridge, Windle, for sleeping in his cart; and John Bromilow, Eccleston, for leaving his cart standing in the street, were severally fined 1s. and costs."
I would have thought that firing a gun in the street was a lot more serious than the other three offences, although playing guinea cat did have its dangers.
A piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, was used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat".
Not only was it dangerous to the boy acting as the target but also to others who might get in the way.
A meeting of the Prescot Guardians – the folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community – was held on the 4th.
The Guardians were told that there were currently 409 persons inside the house, of which 149 were children.
The workhouse master complained that fever was "spread broadcast" by the conditions inside the horse-drawn ambulance that had been purchased a year earlier to convey infected persons from St Helens and elsewhere to their fever hospital.
The term "fever" included all sorts of contagious diseases including measles, scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid.
He said a patient had just arrived at the workhouse in a soaked ambulance (presumably through rain) without a blanket or any other covering.
The master added that it was common for other people to be inside the ambulance that had no reason to be present and their presence allowed disease to spread.
He added that patients were often so exhausted upon their arrival that they had to be given brandy to revive them.
An advert in the Newspaper on the 5th said: "The Jubilee Singers from Nashville, U.S.A. will give a service of song! Consisting of their quaint slave hymns and melodies, in the Volunteer Hall, St. Helens."
The black Jubilee Singers were on tour throughout the country and all the proceeds of their concerts were devoted to what was described as the "Education of Freed Slaves in Fisk University, U.S.A."
The ensemble was also set to appear in Liverpool and the Liverpool Mail on the 5th wrote:
"‘Negro minstrelsy’" has long been a favourite institution in this country, and its latest form appears to be the most popular.
"There is a quaintness and pathos about the singing of the now well-known “emancipated slaves,” who are to give performances on Monday and Tuesday evenings, that never fail to touch the hearts of their hearers, especially when religious sympathies are already enlisted on their behalf."
Valentine cards were incredibly popular in St Helens. In 1872 the town's post office reported that on Wednesday February 14th they had delivered a total of 7,709 items – compared to the average Wednesday delivery of 3,075.
But not all cards were despatched with romantic overtures in mind, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"Severe moralists have condemned the custom of sending valentines, because it leads to the transmission of malevolent rubbish for the gratification of jealousy or hatred."
In 1875 the Newspaper had lamented how more Valentines that celebrated the pagan festival were being received in the town than cards that commemorated Christmas.
They also stated that the total number of Valentines that had passed through the St Helens Post Office that year over three days had been 15,360, with what they considered to be a surprisingly high number sent into the town from other places:
"A fact which speaks volumes for the bewitching beauties who may henceforth claim to be the greatest attraction the town can boast of."
They claimed they had:
• Valentines for anybody
• Valentines for everybody
• Valentines – Sentimental
• Valentines – Comic
• Valentines – All Prices
• Valentines – All sizes
• Valentines – All shapes
One of the most common ways for young infants to die was to be "overlaid" in bed – in other words inadvertently suffocated by an adult.
In an era when some working class folk packed their beds like sardines with multiple occupants, the addition of a little baby in between the sheets would not be considered a problem.
But the infant's tiny size also meant they were vulnerable to being crushed by a sleeping adult and had no means of resisting.
The Newspaper described how Agnes Leyland had died this week through being overlaid.
The 2-month-old twin daughter of butcher Thomas Leyland of Waterloo Street had been taken to the bed at midnight.
During the night her mother "gave her the breast" – as the Newspaper put it – and then exchanged Agnes for her twin, giving the newly fed baby to a servant girl who slept in the same bed.
The servant rose at 7am thinking the baby was asleep in bed and two hours later the mother woke to find Agnes dead and quite cold.
The left side of her face was discoloured and her tongue was protruding from her mouth, typical symptoms of being overlaid in bed. Or, possibly, it had been the bedclothes that had suffocated the poor child.
What today is often referred to as the Friends Meeting House or Quaker Meeting House in Church Street in St Helens was during the 1870s primarily being used by Welsh worshippers.
That section of Church Street was then known as Raven Street and on the 7th a fire broke out in the building.
Fortunately a man working in the neighbourhood spotted the flames coming through the roof and quickly sounded the alarm and the fire bell at the Town Hall was soon rung.
The close proximity to the Meeting House meant the brigade was quickly on the scene with their hose and reel and were able to put out the flames in a few minutes before much damage could be done.
The fire was supposed to have originated through the stovepipe that came through the roof getting overheated.
Hawking items on the streets of St Helens without a licence was seemingly five times more serious than firing a gun in the street.
At least Edmond Pickup was told to pay five shillings compared to a one bob fine for selling earrings in Church Street without a permit.
Detective Robinson told the Petty Sessions on the 7th that he had seen Pickup on Wednesday evening last offering his earrings to some females and then the man had approached the plain clothes officer and offered him his goods.
Clearly the bobby did not fancy wearing any earrings as he instead asked him for his licence and whether he had any more earrings on him.
Pickup admitted not being licensed but said he had no more jewellery in his possession.
But DC Robinson was not satisfied and he took Pickup into a shop where he found 26 pairs of similar earrings on him. The man was fined 5s and costs.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the Smithy Brow father forced to pay maintenance for his illegitimate child, the dangerous Jack Tar in the Globe and the Marshall Cross man rewarded for helping a bobby.